Why You May Need to Change Your Thinking to Finally Start to Succeed

By Rhonda Campbell

Calvin is an easy going guy. For 12 years he worked as a waiter, then as a cook at a nationally known and respected restaurant. The restaurant owner loved doing his performance reviews, showering him with high marks and compliments of how hard he worked. In the performance reviews Calvin’s supervisors also praised him for his attentiveness and commitment to excellence. Almost as if it was a natural progression, Calvin entertained thoughts of starting his own business, a restaurant, of course. Doing so would allow him to continue to use his culinary arts. It would also put him in closer contact with customers, people his cooked meals brought so much satisfaction.

When Opening a Small Business Might be a Crapshoot

The more Calvin thought about it, the more he convinced himself that opening a restaurant was the right thing to do. It was a sure thing. As he prepared a homemade lobster ravioli dish, he nodded and told himself to speak with his manager before close so he could turn in his resignation, soliciting his manager’s support as he launched out and started his own restaurant.

It’s true; Calvin does have a wealth of culinary arts knowledge, skill and experience, three ingredients necessary for the success of any restaurant. Calvin also has experience working with restaurant managers, supervisors, waitresses, waiters and cooks. The brisk pace at a restaurant doesn’t unnerve him. He handles lulls in customer traffic as well as he handles business surges.

What Calvin doesn’t have, and won’t realize he’s missing until after he opens his restaurant, is a small business owner’s mindset. For example, mention cash flow and Calvin won’t have a clue what you’re talking about. He’s also never interviewed, let alone hired, a single employee. He’s also spent 12 years as an employee, expecting his restaurant manager to call the shots, make the tough decisions that could make or break a small business.

Surviving as a New Small Business Owner

If Calvin plans to survive as a business owner, he has to change his mind-set. He has to change the way he thinks and approaches business. Of course, it’d be easier if Calvin started working to change his mind-set before he resigned from his previous restaurant job, but he’s feeling especially hopeful. He can almost see the money piling into the cash register at his own restaurant. What he can’t see are the slow weeks of customer sales that might drag into slow months. It’s as if he’s blinded by his passion similar to the way people in love sometimes shut off good inner vision.

On the other hand, if Calvin’s passion is strong enough, he may overcome challenges inherit in business ownership and develop the mind-set of a successful business owner esoterically. But by then he also may have lost a lot of money as restaurants are not cheap to buy or operate.

Goodness only knows how many times scenes like Calvin’s have played out across national and international business landscapes. It often starts with a level 2 employee at a 25 level firm swearing she can do a better job than the CEO. Depending on whether or not a business experiences early success, it can take several months to many years for entrepreneurs to see or realize that there’s a whole lot they don’t know.

Developing a Successful Small Business Owner Mindset

Truth is, with enough passion, drive and commitment, sometimes lack of immediate success creates a quicker path to developing a profitable small business owner mindset. After all, it’s hard for entrepreneurs to keep deluding themselves when their business is in the red.

Steps Calvin and other entrepreneurs can take to develop a winning mindset include:

• Seek experienced mentors, people who have already accomplished what they are just starting to try to achieve (not people who have only read business management articles or taken a few business management courses)
• Read trade magazines, journals to get a feel for the ebb and flow of the business industry years before launching a new business
• Conduct market research on the types of businesses they want to open (study competitors, market saturation levels, etc.)
• Work with real estate agents to identify the best locations for brick and mortar small businesses
• Fully understand upfront costs associated with launching an online or offline business
• Set up cash flow systems before opening a business
• Build alliances with other small business owners who operate companies in similar markets/industries
• Understand taxation, employment laws, etc. relevant to their business, jurisdiction
• Continuously being open to change (this cannot be overstated)
• Develop a strong savings and investment strategy, especially during peak seasons, as lulls in business come to everyone, occur in every industry

Furthermore, realizing that the authority to make all decisions for a company falls to them, smart entrepreneurs go into and stay in business not so they can boss others around, but because they love what they do. They love people, working with employees and dealing with customers. They’re willing to make tough decisions to keep their businesses solvent. They’re engaged in the communities they serve. They’re equitable and though, shrewd, they’re honest. They know how to negotiate, mediate and say ‘no’. They’re true leaders – winners.

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